The intimate scene in Carol (Todd Haynes, USA, 2015) takes place on New Year's Eve, in a motel room which Carol and Therese travels to in the fantasy of living their same-sex desire in the open. Director Todd Haynes uses various cinematic techniques to constantly remind its audience the ‘criminality’ of what they are doing, and provides a filmic heterotopia —an “other space — (Foucault, 2003), to reflect sets of power relations and oppression via heteronormativity. This essay will analyse how Haynes uses mise-en-scène, objects, setting, framing and body language to work together in projecting the romantic melodrama of the protagonists, and the early 1950’s social and sexual propriety. The protagonists of Carol, just like Haynes’s other films on the forms of “deviance”, are social outcasts, whose "abnormal" sexuality disrupts cultural values and creates a conflict with the dominant social order (Levy, 2015).
Analysis
The scene opens with Therese (Rooney Mara) sitting in front of a vanity mirror, and Carol (Cate Blanchett) standing behind her. This posture of women is presented to the audience through their reflections in the mirror in an over-the-shoulder shot of Carol. Haynes utilises their reflection as a sort of shadow that gives the visibility of their love. The figure of mirror functions as a heterotopia, distinguishing the female-to-female gaze from the 50’s world they live in (White, 2015). A heterotopia, as philosopher Michel Foucault writes, is a “simultaneously mythic and real contestation of the space in which we live.” The concept of heterotopia when they look at themselves in the mirror creates a place where their love is absolutely real and acceptable, where in reality it is in an ‘other place’. The idea of an ‘other place’ is a discursive space that is ‘different’: disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory and transforming.
The setting and mise-en-scène of their first kiss and love-making reflects a culture of condemnation for their "perverse" desires. The road trip, instead of opening up new relational, sexual possibilities as been expected, brings them to another place that reminds the ‘criminality’ of their togetherness. They stay in a cheap roadside motel in Iowa. The motel room’s ‘dinginess’ and the chartreuse green colour of the walls show the place as “dirty” and “ugly”, creating a stifling atmosphere associating with the queer counter space, and the society's inevitable view of lesbianism. Their love being kept on the periphery is a metaphor for the detritus of their lives which they are surrounded by. Furthermore, Haynes sets the scene on a holiday time, a time outside of normal. The timing contributes to the heterotypic place Haynes had by illustrating them free from oppressive norms of domesticity and conventional work times.
A key aspect of the film is the mundane gestures that reveal their interest in each other, and the evolution of their romantic relationship. The women communicate through their body language and glances, because they live in a place where their same-sex desires have to be suppressed and hidden from the others. The film focuses on Carol’s hand/s and their movements on Therese’s shoulder/s, acknowledging the hands as a repeated motif seducing Therese by stealth. This act shows intimacy and the sense of protection, alongside an act of domination. Therese, rests his head on the woman's hand to show allegiance. This body language can be attributed to Carol's role as the more experienced and dominant person in their relationship, and Therese's being younger and spacey. This mother-like actions of Carol can fill the void of a strong female figure in Therese’s life, and at the same time, fill the void of the the daughter Carol is losing.
The short but concise dialogue in this scene reveals the sexual and romantic overtones throughout the film for the first time. Since lesbian relationships are prohibited by society, lesbian women tend to have double lives. Carol touches Therese's hair as she tells her that she and Harge have never spent New Year's Eve together. Therese, by touching her hand, responds, “I’ve always spent it alone. In crowds. I’m not alone this year.” The dialogue exposes their vulnerability and emotional states. After the conversation, they start kissing. The camera moves from their reflection and focuses on the couple themselves. Therese says “Take me to bed.”, showing her becoming more comfortable with exposing the desire and strength she has underneath her introspective personality. It is the first time the characters have expressed their desires openly, and the cut from reflection on the mirror to reality illustrates the two becoming more confident with verbalising their desires. The protagonists being able to be themselves comfortably when alone also shows the trust they have established with each other.
The sex scene is fulfilled with the protagonists’ feelings of amazement that their long-time desire finally being consummated. Sex is presented as a physical embodiment of their loving relationship, but not overemphasised. It's explicit, portraying Carol and Therese together as they experience a strong love passionately. Yet, Carol’s certain body parts are excluded from the frame and is kept mysterious, for her partners eyes only. The scene is first shot from Carol’s perspective as she gazes at Therese’s naked body with admiration, then changes to Therese’s perspective. The camera moves away from the couple’s nakedness and is fixed firmly on their faces, close-ups on their faces, revealing their expressions and emotions. An early indication of a new and loving relationship is given with the small and passionate kisses.
In conclusion, through mise-en-scène, this scene of Carol and Therese’s passionate affair is about the intricate and passionate love shared by two women. Carol is a piece of filmmaking that creates the cine-poetics of love, in relation to the homophobic and heteronormative 1950s era they live in.
Filmography:
Carol (2015) Directed by Todd Haynes [Feature Film]. USA: The Weinstein Company
Bibliography:
Borden, Diane. "Carol directed by Todd Haynes The Weinstein Company, 2015, 118 minutes." Fort Da 23.1 (2017): 93-98.
Fauziyyah, Firanda. The Portrayal of Lesbian Continuum in Carol Movie (2015). Diss. Universitas Airlangga, 2018.
Foucault, Michel. “Of Other Spaces : Utopias and Heterotopias.” (2003).
Johnson, Peter. “The Geographies of Heterotopia.” Bath Spa University, 2013.
LEVY, EMANUEL, et al. “TODD HAYNES: Deconstructive Queer Cinema.” Gay Directors, Gay Films?: Pedro Almodóvar, Terence Davies, Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, John Waters, Columbia University Press, 2015, pp. 160–99, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/levy15276.8.
Smith, Victoria L. "The Heterotopias of Todd Haynes: Creating Space for Same Sex Desire in Carol." Film Criticism 42.1 (2018).
White, Patricia. "Sketchy lesbians: Carol as history and fantasy." Film Quarterly 69.2 (2015): 8-18.
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